The BGN News Archive

A few years ago new groups were naming Ovlov as their favorite band.
They were playing the Middle East Up on Thursday, so we had our mission.

Grass is Green
Photo: Blowfish

The club looked sold out as the band before Ovlov, Grass is Green, played.
They're local but hadnt played in a while. Initially it seemed the sound
was a bit jumbly but we soon could hear that if they were dissonant they werent
disorganized. They all stopped and started on a dime. The songs had their own
internal logic. They list all sorts of influences but Capt. Beefheart came to
mind a lot. Im From Dot Too is an example of where we got that idea. I'm
From Dot Too Sometimes this arty music can be thin sounding but not with
these guys they hit everything hard. All the material was challenging to play
and hear. There was never a steady groove to hold on to. Ill give it to
the audience, which was all young, they totally got it.

Ovlov
Photo: Blowfish

The crowd did not thin out for Ovlov who played till Midnight and even
then no one seemed to want it to end, us too. They were very impressive, the
kind of band that could become your essential it band. They sounded
like the most modern version of rock without any sidetracking into genres. They
take a thick pulsating wall of sound and put a yearning vocal on top. They manage
to make it sound monumental and more importantly  meaningful. Familiarity
with the songs would have deepened the experience. They are not super catchy
but you could catch their differences.

Overall the set was emotional...which is not usual for music at this volume.
The band members delivered it all with personality and they had fun on stage.
A couple of songs to give you an idea of their sound: The
Well and The
Great Crocodile In a case like this a room full of young rock fans can show
us the way to some new groups.

Pile up at Brockton VFW
Photo: Blowfish

We always complain that the South Shore is short on good shows. But Saturday
there was a full blown hardcore gig in Brockton. It was run by Brockton
Hardcore Punk Shows and we hope that cranks up even more!!

The show was a fundraiser for Kathy Kave who runs The Kave, a club
in Maine, to cover her medical expenses. It was at a VFW Post with a larger
hall than we usually end up in. There was a big crowd, a few hundred maybe?
We missed Lenny Lashley who opened up the show. We got there for two
bands: Death Before Dishonor and Reason To Fight.

Reason to Fight
Photo: Blowfish

Reason to Fight from Providence was doing a good hardcore set but couldnt
get the crowd going. Weve seen this before on hardcore bills were they
seem to hold back for the headliners. The band was stretched out across a wide
stage. It must have been 40 feet between the two farthest players. Looked weird
but the sound was good. Their best song was the last called Cant Get Along
where they complain, everybodys pissing me off. Hey we know
that feeling!

Death Before Disaster
Photo: Blowfish

Death Before Dishonor, is a Boston band. I thought that Reason
to Fight was at top volume but these guys upped the volume exponentially.
It was a familiar crushing hardcore doom laden roar. It got the crowd
going with furious moshing through the whole set. It was a wild site
with the large floor in front of the band full of arm thrashing and
leg kicking. It looked like a dojo. You can see some of that in the
second video below. At times it almost seemed choreographed. We would
have better photos but we were too busy trying not to get banged around.
There was lots of careening into the crowd at the edges.

It seemed to be all leading up to Wisdom in Chains a band from PA but
these groups were good enough for us.
Were hoping that Brockton Hardcore Punk Shows gets more shows going
in the area.

Let's hope for more South Shore shows: There is a show at a small pub calledDylans coming up.
(FB
page for that gig here) The Forz (now Melody Hotel) has played there. The
C Note has had a variety of shows which helps. I never understood why Quincy
doesnt have more going on. In any case it felt good to get a big successful
hardcore show like this on the South Shore.

And in other news.....

The Forz have a new name: Melody Motel. Its not often that
a band does that after gaining a foot hold with their former name. The name
change comes after the departure of original band members Anthony Graziano and
Ryan Hottenrott. Melody Motel has yet to announce its new line up. But Cole
Tyler is still there. They've also have a new single in the on the way. Catch
Her Quick" is set to be released on April 13, 2017. It is their first music
offering under their new identity; Melody Motel. Keep
up to date on their FB page.

Poly Styrene of X-Ray Specs is getting a documentary! Her daughter
is making the film I Am a Cliche. They have an IndieGoGo page to drum
up some cash to cover the cost. Go here
to donate and read about it. And read
more abou it on Dazed And here's the trailer: I
Am a Cliche (I pinched her cheek and told her she was cute when I
saw them play at CBGBs!! -Miss Lyn)

An ex-punk rocker, Beto O'Rourke, who already holds office as a Representative
in Texas is running for Senator...against Ted Cruz!! Read
about it here.

And this week on Facebook

We gave a heads up on Trinary System playing Pipeline on Tuesday
on WMBR.
We shared Tim Marsman Downies post where he displayed
the Nervous Eaters promo kit from the late seventies. That was pretty cool to
see!!
The Dead Kennedys show at the Rat was a big deal back in the day. The
book called The Dead Kennedys: The Early Years had a paragraph
with mostly quotes from Jello Biafra talking about it.
Before the Paradise was the Paradise it was called Dummies for a short
while and we posted an ad showing some punk groups playing there.
We all know the widespread influence of Oedipus in the early punk scene.
He used to put out single/album lists that would get lots of attention. You
wanted to know all the groups he was playing. It seemed very important at the
time. We post one of those lists which he called Radio Free Punk.
To see all that check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BostonGroupieNews/

April 29 (Saturday) A special evening
of performances at The Met by Throwing Muses, Neutral Nation,
and Plan 9, and their inductions into the Rhode
Island Music Hall of Fame! Tickets are scheduled to go on sale on February
27!!! For unveiling ceremony and rock inductions day #2 check
out the FB page!!

April 30 (Sunday) Jason Bennett & The
Resistance, On The Cinder, Michael Kane And The Morning Afters, The Martians
- At The Midway - This is a 4PM afternoon show.

May 1 (Monday) PanzerBastard, Poison Rites and Armpits at O'Brien's

May 4 (Thursday) Walter Sickert & the Army
of Toys, Scarlet Sails, Radiator King at Once

May 8 (Monday) Indonesian Junk.....who
have just released a digital single "Turn to Stone" on Rumbar Records.....
are at O'Brien's. HearTurn
to Stone here. Also on the bill Jay Allen & The Archcriminals
and The Von Traps

May 11 (Thursday) Cruel Miracle, The Stops!!!,
DiNOLA and The Scrapes are at O'Brien's

May 12 (Friday) Mike Watt (Minutemen) and
Meat Puppets are at the Brighton Music Hall Here's the
FB page

May 12 (Friday) Rockin' Bob Punk Band w/
Special Guests TBA at O'Brien's

May 13 (Saturday) A Crash Course For
the Ravers has Glider on - WMFO 95.1 1-4PM

May 13 (Saturday) DJ Easy Ed presents
The Cranktones plus Easy Ed's Record Hop! at The Midway - this is a 4PM
show.

May 13 (Saturday) The 5th and Last Joe Coughlin
Memorial Show.....we love Joe and will never forget him!!! On the bill:
M.O.T.O., Super Special Guest Star, Blue Oyster Coughlin, Classic Ruins
and Jay Allen at The Midway!! (9PM show)

May 13 (Saturday) Watch City SteamPunk
Festival in Waltham...WebsiteFB
Page

May 20 (Saturday) A Crash Course for the Ravers
will be featuring The Black Souls & Classic Ruins!
Check it out on 95.1
WMFO 1-4PM

May 20 (Saturday) Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents,
Muck and the Mires, Vicky and the Vengents at The Middle East Up.

May 22 (Monday) Whoopi Sticks, Fire
In The Radio (Philly) and Cook Bag at O'Brien's

May 26 (Saturday) Corin Ashley and Modern
Day Idols are at The Plough

May 27 (Saturday) A Crash Course for the Ravers
will be featuring the new Greg Allen's Fringe Religion! Check
it out on 95.1
WMFO 1-4PM

June 17 (Saturday) A Crash Course
for the Ravers will be featuring Anthony Kaczynski! Tony is the consummate
musician, he should have some interesting stories to tell and picks to play.
Check it out on 95.1
WMFO 1-4PM

June 18 (Sunday) Help Save Out of
the Blue Gallery Too - this will be an all day affair (3PM-11PM) with FOURTEEN
bands including: Brian Young -WMFO as Emcee plus Thalia Zedek, Fireking,
Randy Black, The Knock Ups, Tsunami of Sound, The Stigmatics, State of the Union,
Cal Cali Rockin' Trio, The Last Ones, The KENZ (Highland & Kaiser), The
Thigh Scrapers and Club Linehan A Go Go ~ 50th Birthday Party for
Joe Quinn. Check out the
FB page